Pension scheme for unorganised sector PMSYM gets only 44 lakh subscribers in two years, way below the target

Upon joining the scheme, the subscriber will be eligible for an assured pension of Rs3,000 a month upon reaching the age of 60.

Only a little over 44 lakh workers in the unorganised sector have enrolled themselves for the government's social security scheme Pradhan Mantri Shram-Yogi Maandhan (PMSYM) - way below the target of 10 crore enrollments in five years as of December 21.

The scheme was introduced with the target cover of 10 crore unorganised workers in five years. Thus covering an average of 2 crore workers per year. However, after nearly two years since its implementation, only 44,73,986 workers have been enrolled.

Prashant Singh, Vice President and Business Head-Compliance and Payroll Outsourcing, TeamLease Services, attributed low enrollment to the erratic nature of employability over the past year.

Singh said break in jobs, lack of work, and savings have led to lower registration.

Further, Singh also remarked that the lack of clarity on fund management in case of death, default, short payments may have created less interest amongst the workers.

Lack of knowledge of navigating an online portal too could have posed as an hindrance, Singh said.

The PMSYM was launched in the interim budget of 2019 in February. Under it, an unorganised worker aged between 18-40 years has to contribute between Rs55-200 and a corresponding contribution is made by the Central government. The worker will be required to contribute the savings till the age of 60.

Upon joining the scheme, the subscriber will be eligible for an assured pension of Rs 3,000 a month upon reaching the age of 60.

Workers in the unorganised sector whose monthly income is Rs 15,000 per month or less and who are not covered under the New Pension Scheme (NPS), Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) scheme or Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) are eligible for the scheme.

As per an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report published earlier this year, there are currently 400 million unorganised workers in India, which means that only 1.11 percent of the unorganised workers have enrolled themselves under the pension scheme.